If you’re looking for another blog post of most- and least-favorite Super Bowl ads, you won’t find it here. Though I will say that anything with Betty White is a winner in my book.

Super Bowl ads have become a joke, and not in a good way. The stories are about the ads themselves, not the products they’re trying to sell, or the brands they’re representing. The big game is more of a showcase for ad agencies, a contest to see who can make the ad of the game. Creativity for creativity’s sake.

Good advertising should allow the brand message to resonate with the target audience. It should connect with the consumer and create some spark of awareness about the key benefit of the product for sale.

Instead, Super Bowl ads, for the most part, are just trying to out-do one another to get laughs, often at the expense of the brand. Although the Super Bowl still delivers a great value in terms of the audience size, I have to believe that the $3 million plus production costs of the ad could be much better spent.

The problem, of course, is advertising in general doesn’t work like it used to. People are skeptical, and don’t like having messages shoved in their faces when they’re trying to enjoy a game or a TV show. Today’s marketers have to be smarter than that.

There are ways to stand out in the Super Bowl ad race, and one of those ways is to have your ad rejected. GoDaddy.com became a master of this tactic. Make your ad too controversial so as to be rejected by the network. Then issue a news release about your ad being rejected. People will jump on YouTube immediately to see what all the fuss is about. This year, gay dating site ManCrunch.com used this tactic perfectly.

Recognizing that most people reading this blog are not in a position to buy ad space during the Super Bowl, what is the lesson here? It’s simply this: resist blowing big chunks of your market on making a big splash. You will be much better served engaging in far cheaper marketing tactics that engage your customers and build loyalty and community around your brand.

One of my favorite blogs is KBCulture. Author Leslie Clagett is extremely knowledgeable about the kitchen & bath category, and always has really cool products featured.

One she featured recently was a dramatic, black faucet from an Italian manufacturer (naturally). I lifted the image from Leslie’s blog. As you can see, it’s a visually stunning faucet.

But what caught my attention wasn’t so much the faucet, it was the comments. A commenter noted that since the handle was on the right-hand side of the faucet, it would be frustrating to use for about 13% of the population.

That got me to thinking. What if the faucet company catered exclusively to lefties? They would be heroes to some 39 million Americans. They would quickly generate more awareness and notoriety than they could ever hope to by designing just another fancy product like everyone else.

Sometimes the way to get noticed is not in your product, but who you sell it to.

Who are the “lefties” among your customer base? That smaller, under-served group who would give their undying loyalty to a product or service that figured out to meet their unique needs.

Targeting one of these groups could get you a good, solid following in no time.

Are you a manufacturer or marketer of kitchen & bath products? Do you have a cool, new product that you think deserves some recognition? Are you tired of the expensive, arduous task of entering the many product design awards and competitions?

If you answered yes to the first two questions, and even if you answered no to the third, consider entering the First-Annual KBCulture Awards. To enter, just download the entry form (PDF) and get started. It’s a simple form, and the fee is just $25.

If you haven’t heard of KBCulture, you should check it out. It’s a blog run by the very astute and knowledgeable Leslie Clagett. A former magazine editor and published author, Leslie knows her stuff when it comes to kitchens and baths, and her readers look to her to find the latest & greatest.

Good luck!

The Builders’ Show is just a week away, and if you’re exhibiting at the show, you probably have some reservations about how much you’ll get out of it.

The building industry has suffered more than its share during this recession, and as a result, fewer builders and contractors are spending the time and money to travel to extravagant places like Las Vegas for a trade show. However, in a way lightly attended shows provide a unique opportunity to connect with customers on a more personal level. And, there are some things you can do to reach the ones who don’t come.

So, here 5 ways to maximize your IBS ROI:

1. Engage show attendees & follow up. Social media is all the rage these days, and for good reason, but face-to-face meetings are the best way to get online relationships started. When you meet customers, ask them if they are on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter (LinkedIn is probably your best bet). If they are, ask their permission to connect with them there. Also, put your various Social Media URLs on your business cards. Before you know it, you’ll have an expansive network of potential customers.
2. Blog. If you have a blog (and you probably should), you need to start blogging about what you’ll be doing at IBS now. What you’ll have on display, where you’ll be staying, where you plan on eating, what shows you’ll see. Of course, you want to talk about your company, brand or product, but those little personal things are what get people engaged in conversation. After the show, blog about what you did, what you saw, what you liked or didn’t like.
3. Tweet. If you have a Twitter account (and you probably should), start Tweeting about the upcoming show. Engage your followers in conversations about your expectations of the show. Look for “Tweetups” where you can meet your Twitter friends at a bar or restaurant. Better yet, organize a Tweetup yourself.
4. Video. For the customers who couldn’t be at the show, take them on a video tour of your booth. Introduce them to the employees working the show, let them see the products. Give them the experience of being at the show as best you can. Have fun with it. Put the video up on your Web site or blog, as well as on You Tube.
5. PR. Even if overall attendance will be down, there will still be editors and reporters there. You can go to the IBS Web site and request a list (scroll to the bottom of the page). IBS doesn’t provide e-mail addresses, but you can usually find these through magazines’ Web sites. Contact a few editors who might be interested in your product, tell them what’s new, and invite them to your booth. Be careful, though. They are interested in seeing what’s new or interesting, so make sure you have a good story to tell.

Just because show attendance will be light doesn’t mean the show will be a waste of time. Do what you can to make the most of it.

UPDATE: IBS organizers have made it a bit easier for exhibitors to maximize their ROI with an iPhone app.

From the “It’s All Just Marketing” department…

Last summer, my wife and I were having trouble getting our three-year-old son to take an afternoon nap on days when he was home. He took them at daycare, probably because all the other kids did. But on weekends and other days he was home, we couldn’t get him to do it, and we suffered the consequences in the late afternoon and evening.

The solution? We re-branded nap time.

We now call it “Quiet Time,” and it’s all the rage. He looks forward to Quiet Time and will often suggest it before we do.

It’s new! It’s cool! It’s the latest thing!

But once Quiet Time becomes passe, it’s back to the creative department.